hot chocolate
by skiesofsunsets
Summary: matt is feeling sad, so phil decides to teach him how to make hot chocolate to cheer him up (based on a liveshow where phil makes hot chocolate for dan)


"Dad..."

Phil turned around and was surprised to see his son Matthew looking to the ground with a sad pout. Phil brushed his hair back in comfort.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Phil asked.

"I asked Papa where he put my reading diary and he told me that now was not the time. He seems angry. Did I do something wrong?" Matt asked, tears welling up in his eyes. Phil glanced at Dan at his desk, meticulously editing a main channel video.

"Oh sweetie...Papa's not angry at you, he's just very busy at the moment. Do you want to learn how to make hot chocolate?" Phil replied. Matt grinned widely.

"Yeah!" Matt cheered. Phil smiled back.

"Okay, but remember to be very quiet as Papa is very busy at the moment, got it?" Phil said.

"So...like a secret mission?" Matt asked. Phil chuckled.

"Yas, just like a mission." Phil said, taking Matt's hand to bring him to the kitchen. Phil smiled softly realising Matt was too short to reach the counter. Sometimes he forgot how small his boy really was until he compared his height with other things. After sorting out the chair for Matt to use, it was now Phil's job to pass on the great hot chocolate making skills down to his son.

"What do we do now?" Matt asked, excited.

"Well first, we decide which mug we want to use," Phil said, reaching into the cupboard to pull out some mugs. "Do we want the Mickey Mouse one, the Caesar's Palace one, the Universal Studios one or the Milka one?"

Matt inspected the mugs which his father had laid out. "What does Milka mean?" he asked.

"It's like German chocolate." Phil replied. Matt nodded in agreement, clearly only pretending to understand what that meant.

"Can I have the Mickey Mouse one?" Matt asked.

"You can have the Mickey Mouse one. I'll get the Milka one for myself and the Universal Studios one for Papa as a surprise." Phil said. Matt gasped in delight.

"A surprise? Papa would like that." Matt said, nodding a lot. Phil laughed fondly.

"Yas, he would. Let's put the Caesar's Palace mug away, and close the cupboard door because Papa gets very irritated when I leave them open, and then we will move onto the next step." Phil said.

"What's next? What's next?" Matt said, tugging on Phil's sweater in anticipation.

"Be patient, Matt. Next we pour milk into the mug." Phil said, demonstrating for his son.

"Can I try?" Matt said, sparkles illuminating in his eyes. Phil looked at his small son and the large carton of milk nervously. He handed Matt the carton, knowing he was going to regret it.

"Be very careful." Phil warned, keeping a careful eye on the carton and his son. Matt poured surprisingly well, only getting a drop of milk on the counter which Phil quickly cleaned up with a paper towel.

"Ta daa!" Matt said proudly.

"Well done Matt," Phil said, his praise clearly making Matt very happy. "Now we need to pour Papa's."

Matt watched his father in awe as he poured the milk very carefully into the Universal Studios mug.

"You're so good at pouring milk." Matt said. Phil struggled to not burst out in laughter, knowing Matt only meant good things. However, it did not stop the graphic flashbacks of the Milk Fic to stop invading his mind. That sounds like something to tweet later tonight.

"Thank you, Matt. Now we get the cocoa powder and put it in the milk like so." Phil said, demonstrating again. "Wanna try?"

Matt nodded eagerly. He mimicked his father, putting just the right amount of cocoa powder and then handing it to Phil who put it Dan's mug.

"Now what?" Matt asked.

"We heat it up in the microwave." Phil said.

"Mi-cro-wave." Matt repeated, imitating Dan's voice from 2010. Phil snorted.

"Did Papa teach you that?" Phil asked.

"Yeah. He told me it was onamatia or something."

"Onomatopoeia. And don't listen to your father, that is not onomatopoeia." Phil said.

"Why not?" Matt asked. Phil ruffled his hair.

"You'll learn it when you're older." Phil said. Matt groaned.

"Why do I only learn everything when I'm older?" Matt said.

"Don't worry, the time will come. You just have to wait." Phil said.

Matt sighed. "But I don't want to wait. Everyone in my class says my creative writings are strange. Even the good ones with the dragons.". He rubbed his eyes and sniffed, trying not to cry.

And with that, something inside Phil broke a little bit inside. It hurt to see Matt's sadness like this. It reminded him of when he first talked to Dan about his own sexuality and how he felt vulnerable and ashamed of something to be proud of. He knew that Matt's writing was well beyond his years and that one day he would be appreciated for it like it should be but right now the other kids didn't seem to understand or recognise his writing.

Phil smiled sadly and smoothed Matt's hair in comfort, leaning down to kiss his forehead.

"I told you sweetie, strangeness is a good thing." Phil said knowingly. Matt looked up, meeting Phil's eyes.

"Really?" Matt whispered. Phil smiled and nodded.

"One day you will be appreciated for your writing and your strangeness will be loved. But sometimes, you need to wait for the world to catch up with you." Phil said, grabbing the mugs to put in the microwave. Matt hopped down from the chair and followed his father.

"Is that what you and Papa had to do?" Matt asked, trailing after him. Phil paused and smiled.

"Yas." Phil said simply in response, hiding his wide smile from his son. He put the mugs in the microwave and made room for his son to do the same.

"Rebecca said that my writing was weird and I had to stop doing it if I wanted to be her friend." Matt said. Phil sighed and rolled his eyes. He had met Rebecca's parents at the cocktail night at the beginning of the year and he already knew that that family was bad news.

"Well, if Rebecca said that, maybe you shouldn't be her friend anyway. Embrace the strange, Matt. Would you want us all to be robots?" Phil asked.

"That'd be so cool! Beep boop beep boop." Matt said, pretending to be a robot. Phil laughed at his son's impression. The microwave beeped in response, demanding for attention until Phil finally took the mugs out and put them on the counter.

Matt gasped. "Dad, I have an idea!"

"What is it?" Phil said. Matt giggled.

"Let's put salt in Papa's hot chocolate." Matt said. Phil shook his head.

"Matt, we're almost out of milk and I don't want to waste any of it."

"But -"

"Think of the cow who spent all that effort squeezing that milk out! We don't want to ruin that, do we?" Phil asked. Matt pouted and shook his head. Phil laughed and ruffled his hair.

"Okay, you take your hot chocolate and I'll take my hot chocolate and Papa's hot chocolate. Be careful not to drop it, okay?" Phil said. Matt bounced happily and nodded, taking the hot chocolate. Phil walked over to Dan, being careful not to drop it himself, and kept an eye on his very clumsy son.

"Papa's going to love this." Matt stage whispered.

"He sure will," Phil said quietly with a smile, then looking up to raise his voice. "Dan!"

"Yo sex -" Dan began, then realised that Matt was right beside his husband. Phil stifled a laugh.

"Papa!" Matt exclaimed, a huge grin on his face. Dan looked up at Phil only to meet his stern expression.

Matt hugged Dan happily while Phil looked at his husband expectantly. Dan met eyes with his son and ruffled his hair.

"Hey there Captain Lestowell. Sorry for snapping at you earlier, I'm just very busy. I promise I'm not mad at you." Dan said. Matt smiled.

"It's fine Papa, we all make mistakes. Look, Dad told me how to make hot chocolate and we made one for you!" Matt exclaimed. Phil handed Dan the mug, making eye contact.

Well done, Phil's eyes said. Dan smirked.

"Rate it out of ten?" Phil asked. Dan cocked his eyebrow up and took a sip, not breaking eye contact with Phil. He shrugged.

"A seven. Could be better." Dan said.

"Are you kidding? This is the best hot chocolate ever!" Matt exclaimed. Dan smiled at his son's enthusiasm for the hot drink.

"Let me try a bit of yours." Dan said. Matt watched eagerly as his father took a sip.

"Wow, your hot chocolate is really good! Looks like your father needs to brush up on his drink making skills." Dan said. Matt giggled at Phil's offended face.

"Hey! At least I didn't put salt in it like Matt suggested." Phil said. Dan gasped loudly

"You wanted to put salt in mine? I thought you were better than this, Matthew Lester-Howell." Dan said dramatically. Matt giggled as Dan booped his nose.

"I'm sorry Papa." Matt said in between laughter.

"I'm almost done editing. Wanna watch a movie?" Dan suggested. Matt clapped and cheered.

"Yeah!" Matt whooped. Phil was not as excited about the thought.

"I don't know. It's pretty late already." Phil said. Matt pouted and turned on his puppy eyes.

"Please?" Matt begged. Phil looked at Dan who was looking back just as eagerly as his son. Phil sighed.

"Fine. But don't blame me if you can't wake up tomorrow, okay?" Phil said. Matt cheered again as Dan stood up from his chair.

"Yay! You two are the best dads ever!" Matt said, hugging both of them by the legs. Dan and Phil hugged their son fondly.

"Yeah, I am pretty good at making hot chocolate." Phil admitted.


End file.
